Movies

Friday, February 15

This is a really funny movie with a lot of scenes that can be used in the classroom. This funny one is wonderful for imperative forms.

I. Before watching the segment, put the words in the right order in order to make imperative sentences:

1. her / shut / up

2. up / lock / it

3. that / maintain / tone

4. confrontation / keep / avoid / eye-contact / and

5. table / go / the / stand / to / up / and / coffee

6. your / pocket / go / your / to / right

7. act / just / natural

8. trigger / pull / the

9. fire / hold / your

10. lose / don't him

II. Watch the segment now and check your answers.

III. Make a list with instructions for your partner to perform. Try to use make the scene as close as possible to the one you have just seen. If you prefer, you may make the scene completely different from the original one, but you must use imperative forms to give your instructions.

I have a fondness for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and did a brief review of it at Movie Mezzanine for my weekly recommendation. Weighed down by some integral flaws, sure, but the film is nevertheless a giddy display of imagination from an artist who knows that the fakeness of CGI cannot ever be fully hidden and thus can offer bold new visual treats by embracing its falsity.For that and its surprisingly touching tribute to the late Heath Ledger, it belongs closer to the top of Gilliam's films than the bottom.

It's that of week again where Corey and I post our favorite picks for Netflix Instant. This week, I celebrate finally getting the chance to watch the Comedy Bang Bang show, big up my favorite PTA movie and remind myself to finally watch Me and Orson Welles before it drops off streaming.

Thursday, February 14

Over at Movie Mezzanine, I wrote some thoughts about Anthony Mann's stirring 1958 masterpiece, Man of the West, starring a perfectly cast Gary Cooper as a man whose attempts to leave behind a life of crime will only bring him back from whence he came. It is a harrowing film, one of the bleakest in a viciously bleak filmography, a vision of violence as a self-perpetuating cycle that consumes all who fall in it and offers escape only in a bloody death. One of the greatest Westerns of all time.

Raúl Ruiz's final completed feature (another is being finished by his widow) is as cryptic as the few other Ruiz films I've seen, with a host of modernist references to obscure literature and music at every turn. Yet the sense of playfulness and mourning that informs the whole feature needs no familiarity with the director. Taking Beethoven to the cinema, following ghosts as they peer in on each other, Ruiz finds sad but hilarious ways to handle his impending death. And he films it all with immaculate precision, his constantly shifting but always pristine mise-en-scène enriched to deliberately artificial degree by his use of DV. Admittedly a neophyte when it comes to the late Chilean director, I nevertheless have adored what little I've seen of his, and I suspect I might treasure Night Across the Street even more with subsequent viewings and a deeper immersion into such a tantalizing filmography. If nothing else, it's a hell of a swan song.

Friday, February 8

This is one of my favorite animated movies. Megamind is a lovely villain, with an incredible background story. I used this scene to practice the use of adversative conjunctions in a contextualized manner.

I. Watch the segment and decide if the sentences below refer to Evil (Megamind) or Mr. Goody Two-Shoes. Write (M) if it is about Megamind or (G) if it about Mr. Goody.

Mr. Goody Two Shoes (G)

Evil - Megamind (M)

1. Landed in the White House ( ) Landed in a the Metro City Prison for the Gifted ( )

2. Was adopted by the presidential family ( ) Was adopted by the prisoners ( )

3. Had life handed to him on a silver platter ( ) Was taught the difference between right and wrong by the prisoners ( )

4. Had the power of flight, invulnerability and and great hair ( ) Had his amazing intellect. ( )

5. Had already amassed an a gigantic army of soft-headed groupies ( ) Was given an opportunity to better himself. ( )

6. Is sent to quiet time in the corner. ( ) Receives all the praise, adulation. ( )

7. Was destined to be a super villain. ( ) Was destined to be Megamind's rival. ( )

II. Connect both sentences with one of the adversity conjunctions below. Mind punctuation. Try not to repeat the conjunctions.

BUT / HOWEVER / IN CONTRAST / WHILE / WHEREAS / ON THE OTHER HAND / THOUGH (FINAL POSITION)

Ex: Goody landed on the White House whereas Megamind landed on the Metro State Prison for the Gifted.orWhereas Megamind landed on the Metro State Prison for the Gifted, Goody landed on the White House.